57
projects
41
partners
17
countries
172k+
people impacted
Current as at December 2021. Please note projects often have more than one focus area. The project participant figures are from the 2020-21 year.
Food Security is more than just having enough to eat.
According to the UN, a person is considered food secure when they have regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth, development, and an active and healthy life.
Food security means not only having enough food to avoid hunger but also having access to affordable, nutritious food that meets dietary needs. It encompasses the assurance of knowing where your next meal will come from and that it will contribute to your overall well-being.
Across the world, one in every ten people goes to bed hungry.
It’s not just those living in war-torn or drought-affected places. Many are families who have farmed the same land for generations. Some have small plots of land with poor soil, while others have no way to store food to last through the ‘hungry season’. For these farmers, food insecurity and low production is not only affecting their children’s health, it’s a missed opportunity to earn a living.
Turning this around to enable farmers to make the most of their crops takes time and a few experimental attempts, but can bring life-changing improvements. Because Tearfund’s Christian partners make long-term commitments to communities, their staff can monitor local conditions which have led to food insecurity, allowing community members to develop the most appropriate responses together.
This might mean setting up a ‘model’ organic farm, showcasing new techniques with different varieties of seed, or enlisting t farmers willing to take a risk and trial something new.
Setting up Farmers’ Groups is another effective way to enable people to share what works, purchase in bulk, learn new ideas, and support one another through hard times. From digging trenches for irrigation, grafting fruit trees for improved disease resistance, setting up worm farms and building rice storage banks, farming is better when the whole community helps.
Learn more about our partners’ sustainable farming projects
With the right support, farming can be for everyone. Tearfund’s Christian partners open up opportunities for people with disability, women and people without land to produce their own food.
Chicken farming and hydroponics can prove wonderful income generators for people with limited mobility, and project involving female farmers have often had enormous success with women who start cooperative farms and share the workload - and the profits.
Looking out for organic agricultural opportunities is one of the benefits of a community-focused program, as staff look to draw those at the margins of society towards social and economic inclusion.
“Morning and evening I'm coming to the garden.”
Bangladeshi woman Jacinta Holder is proud of her thriving vegetable patch. “I feel very pleased every day,” she says. “Morning and evening I'm coming to the garden.” With support from Tearfund’s partner Bangladesh Association for Sustainable Development (BASD), Jacinta, a mother of two girls, turned her land into a productive garden. BASD works with Self-Help Groups and runs kitchen garden training in her community.
Jacinta learnt how to improve her soil by using vermi-compost and now has a successful crop of okra, jute, beans, stem amaranth and cucumber. She is able to sell excess produce for a small profit to help cover her family’s needs.
Shop good foodEvery little bit helps. Whether it's giving money, volunteering, or just telling others about the problem, what you do can really add up and make a big difference. Simple actions like helping organisations that fight hunger, or teaching people about the issue are important.
The main issue isn’t how much food there is, but whether people can actually get to it. Things like economic problems, conflicts, and problems in getting food from one place to another can stop people from getting the food they need. Also, a lot of food goes to waste—food that's made but never eaten.
Yes, helping local farmers and communities with the right knowledge and tools can really change things. When farmers use better farming methods that fit their climate, they can grow more food and make their communities stronger against climate change and economic troubles.
There are lots of ways you can help, from donating money to groups working directly on this issue to volunteering your time, supporting policy changes, or spreading the word in your own community. Small actions can build up to big changes.
Helping with food insecurity doesn’t just help one person—it's good for whole communities. It can make people healthier, help kids do better in school, improve jobs and money-making, and even break cycles of poverty. When everyone has enough to eat, the whole society can be stronger and do better.
